English Lexicon

Variance

/ˈvɛə.ri.əns/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #4500 frequency
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Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    The quality of being different, divergent, or inconsistent.

    "There is a significant variance in the test scores among the students."
  2. 2

    In statistics, a measure of how far a set of numbers are spread out from their average value.

    "The variance of the data set indicates how much the values differ from the mean."

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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the Late Middle English word 'variance', from Old French 'variance', based on the Latin 'variantia', from 'variare' (to change or vary). Historically used to denote difference, disagreement, or diversity, its technical statistical meaning emerged in the early 20th century.

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